


In the darkest of nights, you can still find the shining stars

by Tomicaleto



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternative Universe - Canon, Bottom Anakin Skywalker, M/M, Praise Kink, Raised as Sith Anakin, Sith Anakin Skywalker, Top Obi-Wan Kenobi, Watch me take whatever the hell I want from canon and use it however I want, smut beginning and end is indicated in the notes at the beginning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:27:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28490880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tomicaleto/pseuds/Tomicaleto
Summary: There has been a distubance in the Force. Darkness seems to be raising around the galaxy. In an attempt to find out what's going on, The Jedi order send Obi-Wan and his Padawan to one of the old Sith planets, Moraband, in search of answers. But instead, they find a mysterious intruder where there shouldn't be anyone.
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi/Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 34
Kudos: 229
Collections: Obikin Secret Santa 2020





	In the darkest of nights, you can still find the shining stars

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nixie_DeAngel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nixie_DeAngel/gifts).



> Happy New Year! 
> 
> This is my gift for Nixie , and it's part of the Obikin Server's Secret Santa!  
> My prompt was: "Jedi!Obi-wan bringing Sith!Anakin back to the light" and it got a little out of hand. 
> 
> As promised, the smut begins here: "It worked like magic." and ends here: "(...) before fucking him against the control panel as well."
> 
> There is a lot of worldbuilding and love put into this work, and some silly easter eggs. I hope you enjoy it, I had fun working on this

Darkness surrounded them. The only light coming from the lit lightsabers, barely illuminating the walls of the temple. Obi-Wan Kenobi and his padawan walked along the hallway they found themselves in, shields tight against the remains of the Sith that made the Force feel murky.

Their footsteps echoed, mimicking the sound of drops of water. But there was no water in these ruins. The planet Moraband was a wasteland, with barren landscapes and only half buried structures all over its surface. 

They had landed just hours ago, wandering around with dread filling their souls, doing their best to ignore the whispers in the Force, long forgotten voices of Sith of the past. “This is what immortality means,” had declared Obi-Wan, while moving forward with admirable will, “just being a shadow of something more, cursed to wander and find no rest. Such is the way of the Sith.”  
  
Finic had nodded along, absorbing his master’s words, trying to imitate the way he interacted with the planet. It was difficult to pay no attention to the invasive voices, threatening to eat his light whole, as his master seemed to be doing so easily. 

Eventually, they had reached the Valley of the Dark Lords, a promenade of giant statues, some half buried, some eroded from the strongs winds, with pieces fallen around the path. It lead to an imposing Temple, with its traditional pyramidal shape. 

  
Their records, back at the Jedi temple in Coruscant, mentioned it was where the dark lord of the Sith, Darth Bane, was buried, along with his most precious belongings. With the recent rise of the darkside, the Jedi had taken to researching everything that could be found in their temple, and even the ruins buried below it, remains of the ancient Sith shrine, to see what could be learned about this new threat. Deals with the Chancellor himself had been stricken in order to be allowed to explore the old ruins and abandoned temples of quarantined planets as well. 

The doors of the temple had been torn open, the old mechanism in place destroyed and forever ruined. Runes in the Sith tongue were written around the arch of the door, warnings for intruders and pieces of the Sith code woven together. 

“Keep your eyes open, Padawan, and your shields tight.” Was Obi-Wan’s only instruction, before switching on his lightsaber and carefully stepping inside. Finic followed him, lips pressed tightly together, one of his favoured meditation mantras at the front of his mind. 

So far, the Temple had been tame, compared to what they had expected. Obi-Wan had found reliefs on the walls of great magnitudes, and the faint glow of his lightsaber hadn’t been enough to completely understand what they were depicting.  
  
There were also intricate holders, filled with ashes and dust, where light sources had probably been placed on another time. They followed the hallways and their labyrinthic patterns, finding themselves in dead end alleys and more throne rooms than what was probably necessary. 

“Siths and their need for validation.” Scoffed Obi-Wan, crouching next to a particularly well preserved throne on a dais, trying to read the runes carved on its side and backrest. “Hmm, it seems to be the Sith code again.” 

“Maybe we should go on”, Finic said, from below the dais. “See if we can find something to bring back…”  
  
Obi-Wan raised a hand and Finic fell quiet. “Patience, my padawan, we need to be thorough.” Finic huffed, trying to avoid rolling his eyes at his master’s need to explore and study everything, knowing the darkness of the planet would only make his negative feelings worse. 

But eventually, they continued forward, going deeper underground through half destroyed stairs. And the deeper they went, the more new, interesting rooms were found. 

“Look at this, master!” Called Finic from a doorway. Obi-Wan walked towards him, and they both peered into the room. 

Their lightsaber revealed what looked like an old study, with several desks against the walls, covered with musty flimsi and assorted bones, rocks and crystals, and also old writing utensils and dried ink. Shelves that reached the ceiling filled the rest of the room, the wood rotten and hollowed, spiderwebs connecting the few books, with actual leather covers, with the shelves. 

“They seem to be written in Sith runes.” Obi-Wan caressed the spine of one of the books with the tip of his finger, rubbing the dust he collected there between his index and his thumb. “Looks like they are mostly botany texts, nothing about Sith history or the Force.” 

“Another dead end, then?” Finic knew he was whining, but couldn’t help himself. They had been exploring the place for hours and had yet to find something worth their efforts. The darkside was giving him a headache too, and now that he looked at his master, there was a certain strain around Obi-Wan’s eyes, like the aura of the place had not let him go unaffected. 

“Apparently.” Obi-Wan looked around the room once more before turning and leaving the room. “Cheer up, Finic, I’m sure we’ll find something soon. Perhaps we will be the first Jedi to ever see the famous Darth Bane’s tomb.”  
  
“I don’t think that’s a good thing to look forward to, master.”  
  
The only answer he got was a chuckle. 

They found other rooms, similar studies, all with different subjects of study: animals, geography, even math and chemistry, from where Obi-Wan took an old scroll that, according to his words, mentioned kyber crystals. 

“Seems like we’re not leaving this place empty-” suddenly, they heard something crash near the room they were in. They tensed, exchanging a quick look before following the source. 

The planet was in quarantine by law, only those with a permit allowed to visit. And only the Jedi had got the permit in recent times. And only Obi-Wan and Finic had been sent by the Jedi. 

There was an intruder. 

They finally reached the place where the noise had come from. It was what looked like a library. It was in no better state than the other rooms they had found in the underground levels.  
  
“Look!” Whispered Obi-Wan, pointing to the floor with his lightsaber. There were footprints all over the floor, disturbing the dust settled there. A bunch of pieces of something that looked like dark glass were shattered on the ground.  
  
“There are no footprints leaving the room.” Informed Finic.  
  
“They are still here, then.” Said Obi-Wan, much more serious than minutes before. “Let’s split apart, I’ll go right. Remember your training and trust in the Force.”  
  
“Yes, master.”  
  
The library was much bigger than the smaller studies, and there, an assorted mix of books, holocrons and scrolls mocked Obi-Wan, who had now to focus on something else. 

He moved around carefully, his guard high, waiting for the intruder to attack him. 

A rustle, like things being shoved inside a bag, pointed him around a shelf. He stopped, took a deep breath before jumping to engage in the new corridor. But it was empty. Footprints moved towards the other side of the library, where the only door was located. 

_Shit_ , he thought, throwing his caution out of the window and sprinting towards the door as well. “Finic, they are running away!” He shouted, hearing his padawan curse from the other side of the room. 

The hallway was empty when they reached the door, whoever had been there had created enough disarray that there was no hope of following them.

“What should we do, master?” Asked Finic, next to him. “Are we going to pursue them?” 

Obi-Wan shook his head and sighed. He threw a last look at the empty hallway before turning back to the giant library. “It would be pointless. Let’s go back inside, see if we can find something useful.”

It quickly became obvious that whoever had been there was not interested in the ancient relics stored among the other documents. Golden idols had been left untouched. It worried Obi-Wan. That could only mean that the intruder was not a mere burglar, breaking the law and risking their lives for some easy credits, but someone that had interest in whatever could be found in the temple, like the Jedi. They knew how to move around the place and without a lightsource at that. 

Obi-Wan wondered, while collecting his own choice of holocrons and scrolls. Perhaps it was only an acolyte? Or a darksider like the nightsisters? Hopefully not an actual Sith. 

He kept thinking about that hours later, when they had returned to their ship and left the planet. He kept thinking about it during their trip back to Coruscant. And while meditating. 

Finic didn’t seem as worried, probably relieved about them finally leaving Moraband. Or perhaps sure that his master would know how to deal with it. 

\---

“An intruder?” Mace asked, his face worried.  
  
Obi-Wan nodded. “They were roaming around the library, took something, but it would be impossible to determine what.”  
  
Yoda had remained silent, a scowl on his face. Obi-Wan could feel his unease in the Force.  
  
“Between us, this must be kept.” He finally said. “Know about this, the Senate cannot.” He hummed, and shook his head. “Investigate more, you must, about this intruder.”  
  
Obi-Wan blinked, surprised. “Master?”  
  
Yoda interlaced his claws together. “The Force, unclear it is. But this intruder, interested in the way of the Sith, they are. Stopped, they must be. Find them, you must.”  
  
“What about the ongoing research?” Mace and Yoda exchanged a look. 

“We cannot keep going if important information is being stolen from under our nose. This is a top secret mission now. And a priority. The less other people know, the safer it will be.”  
  
“What about Finic?” Obi-Wan put his hand on his chin, rubbing at his beard. “He won’t be happy about being left behind.”  
  
Yoda shook his head, his ears dropping. “To another master, momentarily assigned. Until dealt with, this matter is.” Obi-Wan recoiled in shock. 

“You’re taking my padawan away?” It wasn’t unheard of, young padawans whose bond with their new masters hadn’t solidified yet being reassigned. But Obi-Wan, in the short amount of time he had spent with his new charge, had already grown used to the company.  
  
“For the time being.”  
  
“Consider it a test.” Mace chimed in, trying to offer comfort. “If the bond withholds this separation, then it means it’s strong.”  
  
That didn’t comfort Obi-Wan. 

He left the meditation room and took the long way back to his quarters, trying to untangle his emotions in the Force. He understood why this had to be done, it would be safer for Finic. And Obi-Wan was the best choice for the mission, used, as he was, to having explored Sith ruins with his old master during his own padawan years. 

But when he reached his rooms, opening the door to find Finic making dinner in the small kitchen, his favourite brew of tea on the low table he had in the sitting room, he realized separation would be much more difficult for him than what he had expected. 

\---

He jumped out of hyperspace and got a good look at Asog’s surface. It looked grey and empty, with dark clouds visible from his ship.  
  
“I have a bad feeling about this.” He said to himself, preparing to enter the atmosphere. They had found mentions of Asog in one of the holocrons he had brought back from Moraband. The coordinates to the temple were in code, but after some hours of the best scholars looking at it, they had cracked it.  
  
There was no way of knowing if Obi-Wan would find the mysterious intruder on Asog. They could have visited it already. Or chosen another planet to visit. After all, it had been a coincidence that they had been at Moraband when Obi-Wan and Finic had.  
  
But this temple, according to their sources, had housed Sith relics such as the Mask of Lord Momin, now in possession of the Jedi. Jocasta Nu had guessed it would be the best place to start and Obi-Wan trusted her when it came to knowledge and where to find it. 

Just like Moraband, the place was absolutely barren, dead trees making up the desolate landscape. Obi-Wan landed near the coordinates, looking around. There was no sign of the temple so Obi-Wan decided to go out and explore. Perhaps it was similar to the Jedi temple in Lothal, needing some kind of Force ritual to show itself.  
  
He stepped onto the ground and almost fell over when his boots sunk into the ground. “What?” Obi-Wan exclaimed, crouching and closing his fist around the ground that surrounded him.  
  
It was ash, covering the whole place like snow. Obi-Wan whipped his hand on his robes. He moved around carefully, his body leaving a trail behind him from his ship. If the temple was hidden, then the ashy floor would not help finding the place at all.  
  
He kept walking, deciding to move in a wide circle, and making it smaller until he stood at the actual point the coordinates indicated. And then Obi-Wan saw it, another trail, leading from a foreing and beaten down ship to a place free of ashes. 

Obi-Wan approached it promptly and soon realised it was a rock like door, probably covering an entrance to the temple. He calculated the distance from his ship and it matched the location perfectly. 

Relieved, Obi-Wan focused and pushed the door aside with the Force. Slowly, in front of him, appeared a stairwell leading into the darkness. He switched his lightsaber on and started going down. 

  
Asog’s temple was much smaller than Moraband’s. It was probably because it had been one of the last planets to be occupied by the Sith before their demise in the wars against the Jedi.  
  
The darkness was still oppressive, weighing down on Obi-Wan, but there were no voices to ignore this time, only silence. Obi-Wan studied the walls surrounding him, reliefs carved onto them like the ones on Moraband’s temple’s higher levels. But this temple’s walls were smaller and Obi-Wan’s lightsaber was enough to show the shapes of them. They showed different battles, Sith and Jedi engaged in combat. _The victories of the Sith._ Obi-Wan scoffed, unimpressed, and finally found himself in front of a triangular shaped door. 

It was open, a small red holocron placed in what looked like a key mechanism. Just to check, he took it and the doors closed automatically. Putting it back in its place, Obi-Wan stepped into the temple.  
  
Despite being protected from the planet’s weather, the temple was in no better shape than Moraband’s. He found himself changing routes on more than one occasion due to the impossibility of moving forward, as some of the stairs had collapsed. Statues of different dark lords decorated some hallways. Obi-Wan recognized Bane and his apprentice, Zannah. There was one of Momin next to an empty room that had probably been used as a training salle. It was like a basic timeline of Sith history, the older statues being in worse state than the newer ones.  
  
He stopped in front of a large Muun Sith. Whoever had sculpted this one had depicted the man sitting down, his expression pensive. Obi-Wan crouched, trying to see if there was a name to identify the Sith. He only managed to make out a “ _Pla_ ” in Ur-Kittât, the rest was completely unreadable. 

  
Further down, a man dressed in what looked like Naboo clothing. It seemed that one was the most recent one, the features of the man that of a young adult. There was no name to go with it. 

Obi-Wan paid it no mind and continued, trying to find a place like the library on the other temple. It was the place where he would most likely find his sneaky intruder, if they hadn’t left the place by that point.

His efforts eventually proved successful, what looked like an altar room filled with dusty idols, blunt daggers and knives and a neat corner filled with ancient sith texts. There was no hint of the intruder, they had, apparently, not reached the place yet.  
  
Obi-Wan decided it was a good idea to take the texts anyways. He closed the distance and raised his hand to pick one of the scrolls. 

A low hum, familiar to his ears, and then the feeling of a lightsaber against his neck. It was completely red. _Oh._ He thought.  
  
“Step back.” Ordered a droid like voice, the lightsaber getting uncomfortably close to him. “And perhaps I won’t kill you, thief.”  
  
He huffed. “Thief? And what would that make _you_ ? Or are you telling me there was another person back at Moraband?” Keeping close attention to the weapon threatening him, he turned around and found the intruder. They were tall, wearing a helmet-like mask around their head, only their eyes visible, a sick shade of gold highlighted by the purplish glow of their ignited lightsabers.  
  
Obi-Wan raised his own weapon and crossed it against the stranger’s, pushing it away from his face. “Seems to me like you’re as much a thief as I am.”  
  
“I am no thief, _Jedi_ .” Was the only answer. “These are the relics from my people, and therefore I have a right to access them. Your kind has been stealing them for centuries and you dare call me a _thief?!_ ”  
  
_Fuck, this was an actual Sith._ Obi-Wan changed his stance, falling into Soresu’s first position. The Sith shifted as well, their posture eerily reminiscent of Djem So. “Your people have enslaved and destroyed plenty of worlds across the galaxy.” Obi-Wan argued. “The Jedi are only making sure these artifacts can’t ever hurt another sentient being again.”  
  
Something in his words made the Sith launch at him with a roar, their blades crashing together. It was hard, predicting the other’s movements in the dark. But the Force was with Obi-Wan. The Sith stumbled against a crack on the floor, leaving an opening for Obi-Wan, who spinned his lightsaber and in a swift move, caught the Sith’s face, across the eye, the trace of his blade across the helmet.  
  
The shout of pain echoed around the walls. The Sith fell on his knees, his hands covering his face. Obi-Wan moved to finish the job, going for the Sith’s neck when he was pushed against the wall with an astounding show of Force abilities. Calling his saber back to his hand, the Sith turned around and retreated. 

Obi-Wan followed him but it wasn’t easy. The Sith clearly knew how to move around the temple. They eventually reached the door, the Sith abandoning the holocron for a chance of escaping.  
  
Obi-Wan jumped over the last couple of steps, close to catching up to the Sith, and sputtered when ashes were thrown at his face with the Force. Clearly the Sith was not above using dirty tricks. By the time Obi-Wan had finally recovered his sight, they had already reached their ship and were taking off.  
  
Obi-Wan switched his lightsaber off and considered pursuing but quickly realised it would be pointless. Instead, he turned around and went back downstairs, intent on recovering the scrolls back at the altar room. 

\---

The council, as expected, did not like the news at all. Worry permeated the Force like a bitter drink. Even with the new artifacts safe in the Archives, the existence of a trained Sith, and apparently quite strong in the Force as well, was enough to dampen the mood.  
  
“This is much worse than what we expected.” Said master Mundi, his hand on his chin, clearly calculating what approach to take from there on. Plo Koon had remained quiet, his long fingers pressed together. Mace had his face buried in his hands, his back hunched like the weight of the galaxy had been placed upon it, like some legends from old.  
  
“We cannot keep this information from the Senate.” Shaak Ti claimed. “They were already ansty enough about giving us permission to access the quarantined planets. A simple burglar could have been kept under wraps, but this is an actual threat and precautions need to be taken.”  
  
Several voices started speaking at the same time. Some council members were still reluctant about revealing the Sith to the Senate, sure they would not understand and panic.  
  
“Is it not what is happening to us right now?” Said Depa Billaba, her voice steady. If she was panicking, Obi-Wan couldn’t tell. “We do not need to tell everything to the Senate, just enough information so that they know that our research efforts have borne fruit. A warning that we may not be as available to engage in diplomatic missions while we deal with this issue.”  
  
Kit Fisto agreed with her, and so did several others. Mace did not raise his head, Obi-Wan dared to guess he had fallen into deep meditation. Yoda exchanged a look with Yaddle, both the eldest members of the council; they had lived through the last years of the old Sith wars.  
  
“Aware of this problem, the Senate should be, yes.” Yaddle chimed in. “Find this Sith, dealt with, they must be. To guard the Sith temples, some Jedi should be assigned.”  
  
“And what about me?” Decided to ask Obi-Wan. “Should I keep trying to find this one? Chase them around the galaxy?”  
  
“Unclear, the Force is around you, young Kenobi.” Yaddle shook her head, her ears dropping slightly. “Meditate on it, the council will.” 

\---

Obi-Wan did not wait for new orders before taking action. He approached the training rooms and found several padawans practising form IV. Among them was Finic. He perked up when he saw Obi-Wan, and sprinted towards his master.  
  
Their separation had not broken their bond yet, Finic stubbornly declaring he would take Obi-Wan as his master again, once his mission was over.  
  
Obi-Wan smiled fondly at him, he had grown a couple of centimeters, and looked lanky, his muscles had yet to catch up with him. Together, they left the temple and went to Dex’s, the old Besalisk receiving them with open arms.  
  
Obi-Wan let Finic order some food and listened to him while he ranted about his assignments and being benched for the time being. Once the food had arrived, he dived in, finally giving Obi-Wan an opening to tell him about his last mission.  
  
“They are looking for something. Some kind of information.” He said. “Twice they have ignored other items that feel powerful in the Force.”  
  
“You think they are not interested in power? Sounds unlike the Sith we know about.” 

  
Obi-Wan nodded, agreeing with his padawan. “I’m sure they’ll reveal their plans soon, the Sith are not known for their subtlety.”  
  
\---

He was joined by Quinlan for the next mission, the man had been called from the Outer Rim, so that his abilities could be used within the Sith temple. It was risky, psychometry and the dark side didn’t mix well, which is why Obi-Wan was going with him.  
  


Jaguada was, according to Quinlan, “another dustball”. He compared the unending sand dunes to the ones he had found on Tatooine.  
  
“I wonder if the sandstorms here are as dangerous as the ones there.”  
  
“Well, feel free to get lost in one while I explore the temple.” Quinlan smirked at him, his elbow meeting one of Obi-Wan’s ribs.  
  
The temple was almost completely buried in the ground, only the tip visible above the sand. They stared at each other. That could prove to be problematic. Quinlan kneeled on the ground and pressed his hand against the wall of the temple.  
  
“Do you see anything?” Quinlan started to shake his head when he gasped and tore his hand off the temple. “What happened?”  
  
“The temple doesn’t like me much, being a Jedi and all.” Obi-Wan rolled his eyes and kept looking around, trying to see if there was a way in, like back in Asog. “Also, your Sith is inside the temple.”  
  
He turned abruptly. “How?”  
  
“I’m not sure, he feels far away in the Force, but that could be the Darkside muddling my senses.”  
  
“He? How can you tell?” He remembered the mask over the Sith’s face. His build had been lithe, so he hadn’t assumed.  
  
“He feels like that in the Force, it’s hard to explain.” Obi-Wan nodded, used to vague descriptions of the Force, trained by his old master.  
  
“Can you see how he got in?” Quinlan nodded.  
  
“I’ll need help with my shields, though. The temple will try to kick me out again and it may alert the Sith of our presence. Cover me.”  
  
\---  
  
Quinlan came up with a rough layout of the temple. There was another entrance not far from where they had landed and effectively, the ship he had seen on Asog was there as well.  
  
Obi-Wan was about to head for the temple when Quinlan stopped him. “We should check the ship first.”  
  
Obi-Wan snorted. “There won’t be anything in there, I know I wouldn’t let anything of value if I were him.”  
  
“For you, perhaps. There is plenty of information for me to find there.” Quinlan winked and headed for the old vessel. “You go on your adventure, I’ll check the ship.”  
  
\---  
  
Jaguada’s temple was much lighter than the other two, perhaps because the walls were made of white marble and sandstone instead of dark stones. There were no reliefs or runes on the hallways. The Archives mentioned the temple had been constructed by a Sith legion that differed from the others. They had not used lightsabers and had not left written records of their activities. 

All the hallways seemed to point to a giant hall, with an altar in the middle. Pieces of what looked like rotten fabric covered the surface, and along the walls were tall vases. Obi-Wan decided to open one and had to quickly put the lid over it again, the smell of something dead reaching his nose. 

  
“Are you following me?” He turned around and found the Sith again. He was glaring at Obi-Wan, his left hand already on his lightsaber, though it remained unlit. One of his eyes was covered in gauze.  
  
“I see you’re still recovering from our last fight.” He teased, already settling on a defensive posture. The Sith snarled but didn’t approach him. He looked up, like he was thinking and Obi-Wan realised he was searching for something in the Force. 

“You brought someone else.” He accused Obi-Wan. “More thieves? Have the Jedi really fallen that low?” Obi-Wan ignored the obvious needling and studied the Sith.  
  
He was tall, his outfit making his shoulders broad and his waist narrow. It reminded him of the Jedi robes, but in darker shades. There wasn’t much more to see without getting closer, and Obi-Wan didn’t want to risk doing so. After all, the Sith had not attacked him yet.  
  
“I’ve been wondering,” he said instead. “What are you looking for in these temples? It’s clear you’re not taking weapons with you.”  
  
“I don’t need a bunch of old relics to weaken my enemies.” Snarked the Sith, walking forward, closing the distance between himself and the altar. “Those poisonous urns, or the cursed daggers. All made by weaklings that couldn’t stand their own on a fight.”  
  
Obi-Wan suppressed a snort. The Sith hopped on top of the altar, making himself comfortable, one leg hanging from one side, the other bent at the knee, allowing him to lean on it. “Treachery and cowardice is not unheard of the Sith.” He casually commented, waiting to see what he had to say about that. 

“Only after Bane became powerful.” He retorted. “The old foul thought he could destroy the Jedi by staying in the shadows.” The man shook his head. “ _In the shadows there is power._ He came up with that one.”  
  
He was talkative, unrestrained and opinionated. Obi-Wan hummed, amused. “You don’t agree with him?”  
  
“There is no power in the shadows. There is only safety.” He declared. “The shadows are to stay hidden and safe. Not good for conquering worlds, as he wanted to.”  
  
“And you don’t?” He asked, intrigued by the man’s answer.  
  


But before he could, Obi-Wan felt a tug in the back of his mind. Quinlan was checking if he was doing alright, most likely having felt Obi-Wan near the Sith. Distracted, Obi-Wan almost missed the sudden movement of the Sith, barely managing to ignite his saber before the red one clashed against it.  
  
“Treachery and cowardice.” He said through gritted teeth. “Seems like you’re not above those either.” 

\---  
  
Their fight was short, Obi-Wan pushing the Sith away from him with the Force before sprinting away, the Sith close behind. This time, though, Obi-Wan knew how to move around the temple.  
  
He found the way out of the temple fast, grabbing Quinlan by the arm and pushing him towards their ship. The hum of the lightsaber announced the Sith’s presence, but this time their roles were reversed and by the time he had reached them, their ship was off the ground.  
  
Obi-Wan let Quinlan handle the controls, panting and looking down the window to see the Sith becoming smaller as the ship got further away.  
  
“I thought you would deal with him?” Asked Quinlan, bemused by Obi-Wan’s decision to escape.  
  
“He caught me off guard, did you find something on the ship?”  
  
“Only loneliness.”

  
\---  
  
That night, while Quinlan snored next to him, Obi-Wan took a map of the galaxy. With his finger, he pointed to the planets known to have belonged to the Sith. He wondered what the Sith was looking for once again. He clearly did not care for old relics, but after their short conversation, he wasn’t sure he was a scholar either.  
  
By the time they had jumped out of hyperspace, Obi-Wan had no answers and more questions. He evaluated what to do. He didn’t think the Archives would offer new information. He needed someone else. Someone who had studied the Sith on a deeper level.  
  
He rubbed his beard, considering his options and then he remembered. His grandmaster, count Dooku, had left the order years ago, but Obi-Wan could recall Qui-Gon fondly mentioning how his old master had taken him to different places, following the trail of an ancient artifact or a particularly well preserved text. 

They landed on one of the landing bays at the temple, neither looking forward to reporting to the council.  
  
After hours of standing in the middle of the room while the council debated on what to do, Obi-Wan finally found himself free to board a civilian transport towards Serenno.  
  
He didn’t know what to expect of his grandmaster, the only thing he knew of him was he was one of the best duelists the order had ever had, Qui-Gon’s anecdotes and his bust in the hall of the Lost Twenty.  
  
Arriving to the planet was the easy part, and so was being taken to the palace after asking for an audience with the count. And then he was there, Count Dooku, in front of Obi-Wan.  
  
He was tall, perhaps taller than Qui-Gon. His hair was slicked back and his beard well kept, a refined air around himself. After introducing himself, Obi-Wan was guided to a sitting room, and was offered tea.  
  
Dooku seemed pleased to meet part of his lineage, asking about life at the temple after his leave, and about Obi-Wan’s years of apprenticeship. He was delighted that Obi-Wan had remembered his research into the Sith, and showed himself open to help.  
  
And so, Obi-Wan told him about the temple visits, and about the Sith he had run into there. Dooku listened to him, his nose curling in a gesture of distaste when Obi-Wan mentioned the Sith’s opinion about Darth Bane and his philosophy. 

“It appears that your troublesome foe is not well educated. He seems almost brutish in his opinions.” Was his only remark. Obi-Wan ignored how the comment almost made him flinch. He didn’t think the Sith was as described by Dooku. Perhaps his ideas had been blunt but already the fact that he differed from other Sith had to be a good thing.  
  
He said this, trying to remain polite. Dooku chuckled, a look on his eyes as if he were indulging a child. It made Obi-Wan feel a bit stupid. “The Sith have been dead for centuries now. This must be a wannabe, trained only in combat forms from old holocrons. I know there were quite a lot of those when I was studying them. His dismissal of the Sith philosophy, although it may seem as if he renegades from it, just shows his lack of understanding.”  
  
Obi-Wan decided to let that go unanswered, allowing Dooku to think he was agreeing with him. Dooku’s apparent respect for the Sith knowledge didn’t sit well with him. He related it to the fact that Dooku had spent most of his years as a knight and master learning about the Sith, and seeing all that knowledge be so easily thrown to a side must have felt as a personal attack.   
  
Nevertheless, Obi-Wan thanked him for his time, and promised to keep visiting and bringing him news about the situation. He ignored the voice in the back of his head reminding him that the council had asked for discretion.  
  
\---

Ziost was cold, a constant snowstorm hitting its surface.  
  
It had been a wonderful planet once upon a time, with the stations changing according to the sun’s cycle. One of its native plants had been lost forever after the Sith had taken over. It seemed to be a repeating pattern around these places.  
  
This time, Obi-Wan immediately caught sight of the Sith’s ship, parked just next to an imposing building made of, once again, dark stone. He sighed and prepared himself for the pit of darkness he was about to get in. 

Dooku had mentioned there were some very interesting things to be found at that temple. Obi-Wan did not mention he was unlikely to be able to appreciate them with the Sith in the same building as him.  
  
The door had no locking mechanism, or perhaps, Obi-Wan thought, it had had one, a long time ago, and it was not functional nowadays. He stepped inside and soon realised the temple was not insulated at all. With how strong the storm was being, he feared catching some illness.  
  
“I knew I would find you here.” Said the Sith’s voice, echoing through the entrance chamber. He was nowhere to be found, probably waiting to jump onto Obi-Wan when he least expected it. “Why can’t you leave me alone already?”  
  
Obi-Wan shook the snow off his parka. and looked around using the faint light coming from behind himself. “The Sith have historically tried to bring harm and destruction to the galaxy. You, as one of them, are an imminent threat.”  
  
A thud was heard in front of him, and he caught the hint of a pair of sturdy boots just where the shadows turned darker. “Not all Sith are bad.” The voice, though still mechanical, had a hint of petulance.  
  
“Really? I hope you don’t refer to those that were in charge of creating these temples, as the planets outside are proof enough of their destructive nature.”  
  
It seemed like the Sith had no intention of approaching him, so Obi-Wan started moving forward, his lightsaber in his hand, ready to be used as a torch. 

  
“I meant my master.” The Sith said instead, his steps echoing behind Obi-Wan. “She was kind and caring. Nurturing.”  
  
He sounded like he believed his own words. Obi-Wan felt almost bad breaking his illusion. “I’m sorry to say, but your master most likely was pretending to care just to make a weapon out of you. I’ve read about that, it’s not uncommon among the Sith.”  
  
The man behind him felt silent, and Obi-Wan turned around, expecting an attack. Instead, the Sith only whispered: “you’re wrong.”  
  
Obi-Wan, for a single moment, wished that were the case.  
  
\---  
  
They walked together for hours, going deeper into the temple. Obi-Wan knew he should apprehend the Sith, take him back to the temple to be interrogated. But the man had made no move to attack him, almost content to follow Obi-Wan around the place.  
  
Quinlan mentioning the loneliness he had felt on the Sith’s ship made much more sense now.  
  
Just as they entered a wide altar room, where a crystal was located filling the room with a low red glow, the ground began to shake. As soon as it came, as soon as it left. The Sith cursed under his breath and took out a small device and turned it on. He cursed again.  
  
“Is something the matter?” Obi-Wan couldn’t help but ask.  
  
“I was hoping this wouldn’t happen while I was still here.” The Sith said. “This temple was abandoned years before the Jedi wars were over.” He explained. “The planet’s snowstorm has trapped several members of the old order. Not many survived.”  
  
Dread settled into Obi-Wan’s bones. “Is there something we can do to fix this?” The Sith dropped onto the floor, pulling his fluffy parka tighter around himself. 

“Just wait for the storm to calm down. See if we can leave the place then.” He rubbed his hands together before looking up at Obi-Wan. “We could also fight each other to death, fulfill our fates as Sith and Jedi.” It was clear he was making fun of Obi-Wan. 

“I should have known a Sith would have a terrible sense of humour.” Was Obi-Wan’s only answer, taking some steps towards the crystal. “I wonder what this was used for.”  
  
“It’s a ritual altar.” The Sith explained behind him. “It was apparently used to enhance one’s connection to the Force.” Obi-Wan turned around, surprised. “What? I was raised as a Sith, these things are supposed to be known by us.”  
  
“Have you ever been to one of these rituals?”  
  
“No, the order had been dismantled long before I was born, the last Sith survivors scattered around the galaxy. And hunted down by the Jedi or dead from old age.”  
  
“And yet you had a master.” Obi-Wan pointed out. “A survivor.”  
  
“She wasn’t a survivor, either. She was bought and trained to become a Sith by a Sith lord, though.”  
  
“Bought? You mean like a slave?” The Sith didn’t answer, but Obi-Wan could almost feel the truth of his words in the Force.  
  
\---  
  
Hours went by, with the Sith checking his small device from time to time, before growing bored and leaving the altar room to explore the rest of the temple. Obi-Wan followed him, taking notes of the runes carved into the stone.  
  
“This is not Ur-Kittât.” He said. The Sith looked around at that. 

  
“No, it’s not. It’s actually Balc. You can read Ur-Kittât?” He sounded genuinely surprised by that.  
  
“I do, my master taught me, said it would be practical should we run into a Sith temple. Do you have more than one language?”  
  
“You’re more likely to run into a Sith cave than a temple, outside of the known Sith planets. They were easier to keep hidden. Yes, Balc is the second language, it’s an older one, not really usual to find it written.”  
  
“Can you read it?”  
  
“Yes.” He said, and it didn’t sound like a brag. “But we shouldn’t, those are incantations, the temple may attack us if we do. And dying on a cold planet seems like the worst thing. Or perhaps the second worst.”  
  
Obi-Wan sent the Sith a bewildered look. “Second one?”  
  
“Yeah, dying on a desert planet is much worse.”  
  
Obi-Wan fell quiet after that, completely bemused. They kept moving until they reached a door. It was well preserved and opened easily when the Sith pushed it.  
  
Inside, the place was not in the same state. It was a library, eerily similar to the one Obi-Wan had first seen in Moraband, when he still had a padawan and had never spent hours talking with a Sith lord.  
  
Said Sith immediately started roaming the shelves, picking up scrolls that looked like they would fall apart with just a look without a care in the world. Obi-Wan resisted the urge to cringe at that and remembered Dooku’s expression when he had mentioned this Sith.  
  
He followed him around, investigating some of the old leather books. A defeated sigh took him out of his own research.  
  
“Trouble finding something interesting to read?” He teased. The Sith turned around and glared at him. “I still have no idea what you are trying to find.”  
  
The Sith, for the first time, hesitated. He avoided Obi-Wan’s eyes before his shoulders dropped. “I’m- I’m trying to find an answer.”  
  
“Oh? An answer to what question?”  
  
He saw the Sith recoil and prepared to be attacked. After all, it was what had happened when he had pushed too far the last two times.  
  
But the Sith surprised him again.  
  
“Is it possible to turn back to the light?”  
  
Obi-Wan stopped. Of all the things to expect from a Sith, that was the last one. As far as everyone knew, once fallen, forever lost a Jedi was. And as far as everyone knew, a Sith would never care about the light enough to try and turn back. “You want to turn back to the light?”  
  
“I--” The Sith looked around, once again avoiding Obi-Wan’s eyes. For the first time, Obi-Wan wondered how he looked under the helmet. “I don’t know.”  
  
“Then how is it that you have this particular question?”  
  
“I keep dreaming about it.” He said. “There is this Sith lord who betrays his master to protect a boy. In my dreams. To protect a Jedi.” 

Obi-Wan waited, it looked like the Sith was not done. “And when he does, his Force presence changes. He dies not a Sith, but a Jedi.” He was talking about a fallen Jedi. It wasn’t unheard of, especially during the Sith wars. “I’m trying to find him, but he’s not in any of the records, there are no sculptures of him, not a piece of his armour to be found.”  
  
“Perhaps he’s not real? Perhaps it’s just a dream.” He tried. It seemed like the wrong thing to say, making the Sith flinch.  
  
“They are never just dreams.”  
  
\---

Eventually, the storm calmed down a bit, enough that they dug through the snow accumulated on the open doors of the temple. Obi-Wan carried with him several holocrons. Their respective ships had also been buried in the snow, just hints of them peeking out of it.  
  
“So,” cheerfully said Obi-Wan, after having pulled his ship out of the snow with the Force, “I’ll see you in the next temple? Which one are you going to visit now? I’ll bring some food with me.”  
  
The Sith snorted, the noise coming out weird through the vocoder he used. “Who knows, old man, I think I’ll go to Malachor.” 

Wait.  
  
“Old man?! I’m not even forty yet.” Obi-Wan complained. The nerve of this Sith. “Who are you calling old man?”  
  
“Well, you’re older than me! And it’s not like I know your name, either! You never introduced yourself. I’ve been calling you “old man” and “Jedi” in my mind all this time.”  
  
Embarrassed, Obi-Wan realised he had not asked for the Sith’s name either. ”I’m Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi.” He began. “And you are?”  
  
“I’m Darth Sapak.” Said the Sith curtly. Obi-Wan almost snorted.  
  
“Should I call you Darth or Sapak? Just tell me your real name.” He teased the man.  
  
“You can call me Sapak.” Answered the Sith, his body language showing how uncomfortable he was with Obi-Wan’s questions. And after that, he turned around and, with what could only be called a bragging move, he pulled his own ship from under the snow with a twist of his wrist, soon leaving the planet and Obi-Wan behind. 

\--- 

Mace was unimpressed. He stared blankly at Obi-Wan while he told him about his latest adventure and how he had learnt of the Sith’s name.  
  
“You realise this makes him more dangerous, right? Throughout history there have been plenty of Sith acolytes and apprentices, but not all of them were given a name. If this Sith lord has a name, that means he’s recognized as such by other Sith.”  
  
“Which other Sith, Mace? The man is alone, he has mentioned his master is dead.” Obi-Wan shot back. “I haven’t run into another darksider and there was no mention of an apprentice from Sapak.”  
  
Mace didn’t relent. “I would not grow so comfortable with our enemy, Obi-Wan.” 

\---

Few days later, while Obi-Wan was boarding his ship after another visit to count Dooku, his comm started chiming. He took it from his belt and saw a message there, from an anonymous sender.  
  
_Malachor had no clues about D.V., going to explore Mustafar next. Will I see you there, Kenobi?_ _  
__  
_ He stared at the com for a long couple of seconds. And then he laughed. The nerve of Sapak, almost like a taunt. He didn’t say anything about that, though. Instead he only answered:  
  
_How did you find this frequency?_  
  
The answer would arrive once he dropped from hyperspace. _Your temple is easy to hack_. 

\---

He knew he should have told the council about a Sith getting into their system with enough subtlety to go unnoticed and with enough success to find what they were looking for, even if that thing was Obi-Wan’s comm frequency. 

But he didn’t, assured in his decision by the fact that nothing had happened to the Jedi temple. He had slowly come to realize, after Zion, that Sapak did not attack unless he thought it necessary or was provoked. He had, in their first encounter, only attacked after Obi-Wan had insulted him.  
  
And in their second one… Well, Obi-Wan guessed he was looking to avenge his wounded face and hurt ego.  
  
\---  
  
Mustafar was hot, the lava rivers increasing the planet’s temperature to uncomfortable levels. Obi-Wan landed in one of the multiple mining platforms that could be found around the planet.  
  
Sapak had told him to find him there, so they could explore whatever that was to be explored together. Obi-Wan was still unsure about the whole thing. Was Sapak waiting to kill him? He didn't seem like the sneaky type, more like someone very straightforward.  
  
But so was a citoniensis, and yet they liked to play with their food. Obi-Wan, despite how carefree he had acted, had not forgotten Mace’s warning words.  
  
Sapak finally showed up at the hangar, looking around until his eyes found Obi-Wan. He approached him with eager steps, almost like he was happy to see him. His first words were not a jab but an excited claim. 

  
“I had another dream, just before arriving at this place. Seems like the Sith I’m looking for is deeply connected to the planet.” He grabbed Obi-Wan’s wrist and started dragging him across the hangar, ignoring the droids moving around them. Obi-Wan barely avoided startling by the contact, letting himself be led around the place.  
  
“What are we looking for, exactly?” He asked. “You mentioned a Sith in your dreams last time as well, and said his initials in the comm you sent me, but I still don’t know who he is.” 

  
Sapak did not stop moving, but he threw Obi-Wan a sideways glance. “His name is Darth Vader. He’s been showing up in my dreams for a while, since my master died.” He explained. Finally, they left the mining facility and Sapak let go of Obi-Wan, the phantom touch would be staying with Obi-Wan hours after. 

“There are more dreams, but I don’t understand those. A pair of twins, strong in the Force but not dark. I like those dreams much better than the one with the Sith.” He shook his head. “They are soothing, help me sleep better.”  
  
Obi-Wan, who had caught up to Sapak while he talked, intervened. “You have trouble sleeping?” The sith nodded, but didn’t add anything. Obi-Wan got more curious with every piece of information he learned from Sapak.  
  
He knew he was alone, his master dead. He was young as well, or at least, younger than Obi-Wan, and something like a rebel in his own beliefs, not caring for Sith philosophy or their conquering plans. He had Force related dreams, and, if Obi-Wan had guessed correctly, premonitions. And he had trouble sleeping.  
  
He couldn’t help but start thinking about this man as less of a Sith and more of a weird friend. Quinlan would laugh at his face if he heard him, and Luminara would probably pursue her lips in disappointment.  
  
“So, tell me, where are you taking me?” He asked. “As far as I know, there are no Sith temples on this planet.”  
  
“You’re right, there aren’t.” Silence fell around them. “But there are caves here, used by the Sith for rituals and such. And also there is an underground shrine as well, hidden from most people.”  
  


“A hidden shrine?”  
  
“Yeah, don’t you know the legend? Apparently a marriage or something lived here many years ago. But the husband died and the wife went mad with grief. She basically destroyed the planet trying to bring his husband back to life.”  
  
Obi-Wan grimaced. So another planet tainted by the presence of the Sith. “And the shrine was built in their honour?”  
  
“I’m- I’m not sure. I think the shrine was built by the woman herself to use as ritual grounds.”  
  
\---

It dawned on Obi-Wan once they were both exploring the Sith cave Sapak had mentioned. “Do you know where the shrine is located?”  
  
Sapak looked up from some runes he was reading. “Uh, yeah, my master took me there once, when I was thirteen. It’s a pretty romantic story, don’t you think?”  
  
Obi-Wan made a bewildered face. “Looks to me like a lesson. Let go of those you love, rejoice in them joining the Force.”  
  
A distorted snort came from behind him. “Such a Jedi thing to say. Are you even allowed to love?”  
  
“Of course we are, it’s attachment we renounce. Selfishly latching onto people and things, caring more about our feelings for them than for them.” He shook his head.  
  
“Well, from my point of view, the woman was doing an act of love, trying to reunite them after they had been separated.”  
  
Obi-Wan frowned. “You realise they would have reunited again in the Force, right? _There is no death, there is the Force._ By trying to break the laws of nature, she not only disrespected her husband’s memory but also doomed the whole planet to be what it is now.” 

  
\---  
  
They didn’t visit the shrine. Sapak was still brooding over Obi-Wan and his sermon about love. He seemed unable to accept that his seemingly romantic tale was not quite as so.  
  
Their walk back to the hangar was done in an uncomfortable silence. Obi-Wan was reluctant to break it, even if he wanted to ask the Sith if he had found something else in regards to Vader.  
  
Eventually, he found himself at the boarding ramp of his ship. Sapak looked more relaxed, even if he was still quiet. “So. Was this trip successful?” Sapak’s shoulders dropped. “I’ll take that as a no. Where will you be going next?”  
  
“Jaguada, I’ve been checking my notes and it seems that I missed something the last time I was there.”   
  
“Well, hopefully you’ll find your lost dignity as well.” That earned him a glare. “I couldn’t help but notice your eye hasn’t been permanently damaged.”  
  
“Yes, I healed it just fine, no thanks to you. It did leave a scar, though.” His tone, under the mechanical vocoder, sounded bitter but not angry. Obi-Wan smiled mockingly, before the words said registered in his mind.  
  


“You healed it?” Sapak blinked at him, once, twice.  
  
“Yes?” He looked at Obi-Wan, clearly bemused by Obi-Wan’s surprise. 

“How?” Obi-Wan leaned forward, as if he could see through the helmet just by doing that. The Sith took a step back.  
  
“You look for a life form and take their life Force for yourself. And then you use that energy for whatever you want.” He explained. “I don’t think you Jedi would actually do this, it’s a dark side technique, as far as I’m aware.”  
  
As soon as he said that, Obi-Wan seemed to come back to his senses. Disgust filled him, making him recoil.  
  
Sapak hunched on himself. “You were the one to ask.” 

\---

He found the ability in one of the Archives’ holocrons. It listed a series of possible Sith techniques developed during the rise of the old Sith Empire. He wondered how Sapak had learned it.  
  
He took the holocron to his next visit to Serenno, and explained what had happened to Dooku.  
  
“He could heal himself?” He asked, flabbergasted. “Are you sure he wasn’t lying to you?” 

“I don’t think he was.” Obi-Wan didn’t mention how he thought the Sith didn’t seem to care about lying, as Dooku would dismiss the fact as another trick of the Sith. “The holocron here mentions it’s not an usual ability.”  
  
Dooku nodded in agreement. Obi-Wan took a minute to study the count. He had bags under his eyes and seemed drawn into himself. He couldn’t resist the temptation to throw some of his first words about Sapak back at him. “It looks like he’s not as much as wannabe as you first thought.”  
  
The frown he got brought him some kind of petty satisfaction.  
  
\---  
  
“You know,” he began, coming down his ship, his boots getting buried in the sand below him. “I had forgotten how annoying the sand on this planet was.”  
  
Across him, Sapak nodded. “I hate it.”  
  
Obi-Wan smirked. “ _Hate leads to suffering_ .” He teased, throwing Yoda’s words as if talking about the weather. But it didn’t bring the reaction he expected. Instead of rolling his eyes, as Finic would have done, Sapal frowned and looked away.  
  
“What do you know about suffering?” He spat back, before walking past him and getting into the temple. Obi-Wan frowned at those words and followed him inside.  
  
They didn’t speak much after that, Sapak focusing on finding what he had missed the last time and Obi-Wan not even bothering pretending he was there for anything else but to learn more about the Sith.   
  
Sapak quickly found his way to the altar room, but didn’t dwell too much in it. It seemed he had taken the scrolls the last time he had been there and so the room was useless for him then.  
  
Instead, he crossed the room and left through one of the other doors that surrounded the altar. Obi-Wan right behind him.  
  
“I’m sorry if I’ve offended you.” He said, while Sapak kneeled over a vault filled with holocrons. Some of those looked strange, missing the characteristic red hue he was used to seeing on those. Sapak tensed at his words, staying still. 

“It’s okay.” He muttered.  
  
Obi-Wan huffed, trying to avoid getting exasperated with Sapak’s stubbornness. He didn’t scold him though, sure that another piece of Jedi philosophy would do more harm than good. 

“Where do you even store all these things?” He wondered out loud. Sapak turned to stare at him, his eyes wide with surprise. “Do you put them in your ship or something?”  
  
“What? No! I have a place.” Obi-Wan noticed he didn’t say home. “I would show you but you may steal all my items.”   
  
Obi-Wan chuckled and took the peace offer for what it was. “Again with the thief accusation? You should know better by now.”  
  
Sapak’s weird mechanical laughter echoed around the room. 

\---

Back at Coruscant, Obi-Wan took the opportunity to spend some time with Finic. It was refreshing listening to his padawan after the scolding he had got from the council. After his only interactions being with Dooku and his pretentious speech and Sapak’s unstable mood shifts, Finic’s happiness at having his master back for a short period of time and his light presence in the Force helped soothe Obi-Wan’s own mood.  
  
He hadn’t heard from Sapak in a while after their last visit to Jaguada. The Sith had only taken the strange holocron with him. It made Obi-Wan extremely curious.  
  
After Finic had left, Obi-Wan prepared himself some tea and tried to meditate. But he couldn’t get too deep into it before his comm chimed. He took it from his belt and saw it was the same anonymous sender from last time. Sapak.  
  
_Meet me at the Drunken Lothwolf, level 1678._  
  
\---

The _Drunken Lothwolf_ was a small bar on the lower levels. It was dark and smelled like sweat and alcohol. A quick look at the drink card revealed it was also on the cheap side and Obi-Wan promised himself he would not ask for drinks there.  
  
And that he would also take Sapak to a better place next time.  
  
He stopped on his feet at that. Next time? Surely he wasn’t thinking about taking Sapak out for drinks under the nose of the Council. He shook his head and kept going.  
  
Sapak was sitting on a small table in a corner of the bar. He had a tall glass of a glittery pink drink and Obi-Wan barely avoided cringing at the look of it. His helmet was resting next to the drink, but his face was completely hidden by the shadows of the place.  
  
_In the shadows there is safety,_ Sapak’s odd mechanical voice repeated in his mind. It made Obi-Wan curious.  
  
He sat across the Sith, barely hiding a smile at the startle it earned him. “Hello there.” He said, cringing inside at how flirty his tone sounded. Sapak didn’t seem to care about it, dragging the drink towards himself and taking a sip from the straw it had.  
  
“Fancy seeing you here.” He shot back. It threw Obi-Wan off his axis. He was used to Sapak’s voice being mechanical, almost droid-like. The soft and low tone would have made him choke on his drink, should he have had one. “Are you going to order anything?”  
  
Obi-Wan took some seconds to answer, still surprised by the Sith’s soft voice. He sounded young, much younger than what he had imagined when Sapak had told him he was younger than him. When the golden eyes watching him from the shadows started to fill with concern, he shook his head and smiled charmingly. Quinlan called that grin the bullshitting one. “Is there anything you recommend?” He bit his tongue on the _darling_ that threatened to slip.  
  
What in the Force was he doing? Was it the reminder that Sapak was human? Or was it the context where they found themselves?  
  
“I don’t know, this was the only thing that looked tasty.” Was the dry response. Just when he was about to retort, a waitress arrived at their table. He ended up ordering water. He ignored the snort it earned him while he winked at the waitress.  
  
“Now, Sapak, you called me here on this lovely Coruscanti night…” Before he could go on, Sapak interrupted him with what sounded like an amused huff.  
  
“It’s not lovely, Coruscant is cold, I hate it.” The comment made Obi-Wan raise a brow. “Don’t look at me like that, the galaxy is a cold place.”  
  
It was too good of an opening to let it slip. “You mean the darkside is cold.”  
  
“No, I meant this planet. You’ve been to Mustafar, you know the darkside is not always cold.” Sapak paused for a second before adding. “It’s mostly miserable, though.”  
  
Obi-Wan’s jaw dropped slightly at the admision. Sapak stayed quiet, sipping more of his drink. The waitress arrived with Obi-Wan’s water and he took a gulp before putting the glass on the table with more force than necessary. 

  
“Careful.” Was another soft drawl. Sapak’s real voice still distracting Obi-Wan. “You don’t want to break it and pay for it.” He chuckled when Obi-Wan glared at him, and that too was a new sound to Obi-Wan’s ears.  
  
“I’ve never asked you, why do you wear your helmet?” The Sith fell silent at that. But before an awkward silence could take over their table, he answered.  
  
“I’ve never been good at hiding my emotions.” Sapak said. “The helmet helps me with that.”

\---

After his drink was done, Sapak told Obi-Wan about a trip he was planning to make. His latest finding had triggered another dream, of a place with a throne, a laughing master and lightning. “It’s not exactly new.” He clarified. “But this means I’m on the right path.”  
  
“Why are you telling me this? I’m supposed to be stopping you.” Asked Obi-Wan, even if his hand had already found his beard and he was stroking it intrigued.  
  
Sapak had stared at him at that, his golden eyes showing his disbelief. “How is that working for you?” He deadpanned. Obi-Wan thought back to the fact that he was sitting in a low quality bar with a Sith, just levels away from the temple and the Council and almost winced.  
  
“Not very good, I would say.”  
  
\---

The reason Sapak had contacted him was because he expected Obi-Wan to accompany him to this new adventure. Obi-Wan had returned to the temple early in the morning, collapsing on the bed and thankful that he had decided not to drink that night.  
  
His alarm sounded loud and far too soon for him, and he turned around in his bed for several minutes, thinking of what Sapak had asked of him.  
  
In the end, he decided to go. So far, Sapak had not tried anything after their first two encounters. He had willingly invited Obi-Wan to this Sith trip or something similar and Obi-Wan had, after all, been ordered to take care of the Sith.  
  
He remembered Sapak’s search for the mysterious Darth Vader, who had apparently turned back to the light before dying. And that made Obi-Wan think of Sapak himself. Would it be possible for him to come back as well? Why was he so interested in this quest?  
  
These thoughts stayed at the front of Obi-Wan’s mind while he visited Finic, reassuring the boy about his soon to be ended mission and their reunion as master and padawan. They stayed with him while he told Mace about this new information he had acquired, carefully avoiding mentioning that he was going to join the Sith on a journey. And they did as he boarded a speeder and lost himself on the lower levels, finding a small mechanic shop where Sapak and his battered ship were waiting for him.  
  
\---

The ship was comfortable, with a small fresher and the cargo area turned into a small room. Sapak mentioned modifying the model -”the _Twilight_ , that’s her name”- so it would work better than more modern models.  
  
They left Coruscant and jumped into hyperspace. “So,” he began. “Where are we going exactly?”  
  
“First, we’re going to Tatooine.” Sapak explained. “I hate the place, but there is something I need to do before we go to our actual destination.”  
  
It took several hours to get to Tatooine. The place was much hotter than Jaguada, and full of sand as well. Sapak seemed terribly annoyed by having to stop there, Obi-Wan made sure to steer clear of him, instead meditating whenever he could.  
  
They stopped at one of the small populations of the planet, and left the ship in a mechanic shop, where the owner, an old man and his daughter, exchanged some words in Huttese with Sapak, before accepting payment and ordering some droids to help him.  
  
“I didn’t know you spoke Huttese.” Obi-Wan commented. Sapak looked down, away from Obi-Wan. He wondered if the Sith felt hot under his helmet. 

\---

Soon, Sapak left him in a cantina, with a low warning to not talk to anyone under his breath. He returned many hours later, when the twin suns had gone down and the three moons of the planet were high in the sky.  
  
The alcohol on the cantina was much sweeter than what Obi-Wan preferred, but still good. He felt slightly tipsy by the time Sapak appeared at his side, sitting down in front of him, the scene too similar to the one in the _Drunken Lothwolf_ . Except now Sapak had his helmet on and his voice was, once again, the robotic one.  
  
They spent the night at the planet, in different rooms across each other. Obi-Wan almost didn’t sleep, paying attention to all the noises coming from Sapak’s room, just in case the Sith decided to leave him behind.  
  
Instead, he heard a low moan around midnight, followed by a grunt and a strangled whine. There was a much subtler shifting sound below the groans and realization soon hit Obi-Wan. Sapak was touching himself in his own room.  
  
He turned around in his own bed, putting the meagre pillow over his head, ignoring how the noises of the soft voice he had heard back at Coruscant, but now deep in the throes of pleasure, had him hardening in his own sleep pants. 

\---

Next morning, while they picked up the ship, he stared at Sapak’s profile and imagined it naked and flushed. It frustrated him how he could picture Sapak’s naked body perfectly, except for the face. He couldn’t decide what it looked like under the helmet, only the golden eyes and a scar clear in his mind.

He didn’t mention the night before and soon he found himself trapped in the cockpit of the _Twilight_ , helplessly turned on by the man sitting next to him.  
  
“Alright.” Said Sapak. “Let’s see if this works.”  
  
He took the weird holocron out of a pouch on his belt. “This is a wayfinder.” He explained to Obi-Wan’s slightly confused face. “It’s like a compass, it guides us to the lost Sith world of Exegol.”  
  
He put it into the navigator of the ship and played around with the switches and buttons on the console. “The ancient texts mentioned this place: _Ixigul_ , they called it.” Finally, he pulled down the lever and the ship jumped into hyperspace.  
  
“Why is this wayfinder necessary? Couldn’t you just put the coordinates on your navigator like with other Sith planets?” Obi-Wan asked, wrecking his brain, trying to recall any of the Sith texts back at the Temple or his conversations with Dooku, to see if the word Exegol had been mentioned.  
  
“No. This place is in the Unknown Regions, and wasn’t even common knowledge amongst the Sith.” Sapak finally turned to stare at him. “My master didn’t know about it, even. But some of the scrolls I took from Jaguada the first time did. And they mentioned the wayfinder as well.”

\--- 

The first days spent travelling were alright. Sapak had to drop from hyperspace from time to time, as the wayfinder turned out to be a less precise navigation item.  
  
Their conversation was, at the beginning, comfortable and unproblematic. But on the fifth day, they had an argument about a small thing that ended with Sapak storming out of the cockpit while Obi-Wan glared at the porthole, the strange blue waves that characterized hyperspace travel all around him.  
  
Hours went by with oppressing silence over the ship. Obi-Wan used the time to meditate, and his thoughts went to his padawan. He wondered how he was doing. He hoped that his bond with Finic would hold strong until his mission was over and then remembered how his mission was likely to end for Sapak. 

Either the Senate would leave the Jedi to deal with him or he would be put on trial and most likely be executed. The knowledge didn’t sit well with Obi-Wan and he uncrossed his legs and went looking for Sapak.  
  
He found him hugging his legs, sitting on the floor. Obi-Wan kneeled in front of the Sith and sighed. He had already forgotten about what they had been fighting about to begin with.  
  
“The first time I met you,” he heard Sapak say. “You had another Jedi with you, a youngling.” Oh, he was talking about Finic. Obi-Wan blinked at the Sith, surprised at the apparent connection between their thoughts.  
  
“Yes, my padawan, Finic.” Sapak turned his head towards him until his eyes were staring right at Obi-Wan. “His role would be similar to a Sith apprentice, in a way, although the Jedi method of teaching is more about the community than the individual passage of knowledge that’s usual for the Sith.” He added, as an afterthought.  
  
Sapak snorted. “Believe me, most times it’s about the apprentice doing their best by themselves while the master tries to stunt their growth in power. Haven’t you wondered why there are so many stories about the Sith killing each other and apprentices replacing their masters? It goes as far as Bane and Zannah’s relationship.”  
  
“Was it like that with your master? Did you kill them?” Although Sapak had mentioned his master a couple of times, it was hard for Obi-Wan to remember if he had mentioned their gender.  
  
“My mo- my master wasn’t like that.” Obi-Wan noticed the slip and let it pass. “She had been unwillingly forced to train under the dark arts and she only taught them to me to help me survive.” A long pause fell between them after that. “What happened to your padawan? Why didn’t they come to the other Sith temples after Moraband?”  
  
Obi-Wan pursed his lips, considering what to say. He didn’t want to sound bitter towards the Council in front of a supposed enemy but he was still a bit hurt over the Council’s decision to split them apart during the duration of this mission. “It was considered too dangerous to allow him to keep accompanying me while I had to pursue you.” Were his only words about that.  
  
Sapak looked down at that. “I’m sorry he was taken away because of me.” He murmured, and even when he had his helmet still on and his voice still sounded mechanical, Obi-Wan could perfectly imagine Sapak’s real voice telling him that in its soft lull.  
  
“It’s not your fault.” He said automatically, earning himself a snort.  
  
“You’re lying.” Sapak said, not accusing but like someone stating a fact. “But thank you.”  
  
\---  
  
After that small conversation, their shared space became much more comfortable. Left behind were those first encounters with lightsaber attacks on dark and abandoned temples. Gone were the sarcastic remarks and insults.  
  
Sapak seemed more relaxed around Obi-Wan as well, opening up about his affinity to fixing droids and ships and his love for flying. He mentioned his master more often, a human woman who had raised him from childhood. 

Obi-Wan talked, for his part, about growing up in the temple. He noticed Sapak's greedy eyes paying close attention to everything Obi-Wan was telling him. Obi-Wan mentioned his friends, and the masters and the Council. He expected a hateful comment but Sapak didn’t say anything.  
  
\---

And eventually, they finally arrived to the strange and mysterious world of Exegol. The planet looked like a constant storm besieged the surface. Lightning could be easily seen from their ship.  
  
Sapak maneuvered the _Twilight_ carefully once they got into the atmosphere, avoiding the clouds, with thunder rumbling all around them. Obi-Wan watched the surface, an arid desert of cracked balck dirt. 

“Another desert…” He mumbled under his breath.  
  


“What?” Asked Sapak next to him.  
  
“It’s a pattern I’ve noticed in all the Sith planets. Remember the story you told me back in Mustafar?” He waited until Sapak nodded, the _Twilight_ landing softly on the dry surface. “Planets that used to be so beautiful and full of life, destroyed beyond repair by the Sith.”  
  
Sapak didn’t give a response to that. They both got down the ship. Sapak had the wayfinder on his right hand. They walked aimlessly for some minutes.  
  
“There should be an underground access around he--!! Fuck!” Exclaimed Sapak, just as the ground below his feet started shaking, a triangular platform lowering itself. Obi-Wan quickly joined Sapak on the platform.  
  
“Now this is as dramatic as I expected a Sith planet to be.” He joked, earning himself an elbow in the ribs from Sapak. He retaliated and the way down turned into a war not above one that could be found between padawans playing around.  
  
Soon, the platform reached the ground. Silence surrounded them, neither moving from their place. There was a low light around the place, enough to show them a cavernous hallway. Taking a deep breath, Sapak stepped out of the platform and moved forward, stopping after a couple of steps to turn around and stare at Obi-Wan. “Are you coming or not?”  
  
\---

The quietness of the place was unnerving to say the least. Obi-Wan looked around, his eyes going from their surroundings to Sapak right in front of him. The Sith was moving as carefully as he was, unfamiliar with the place.  
  
Exegol had no temple as the other planets. The underground consisted only of rough walls, without the already typical carvings depicting different Sith rituals or battles. There weren’t runes either, just the raw stone.  
  
Eventually, the hallway opened to a room full of dusty equipment. Tanks similar to bacta ones were all around the place, some broken, some intact but empty. Big spiderwebs covered what looked like the control panel of the big machines.  
  
“It’s a cloning facility.” He realised. Next to him Sapak tensed.  
  
“It’s not only that.” He said, his robotic voice too loud around them. “I’ve read about this place, found some notes of some Sith called Plagueis.” He took a deep breath. “Experiments were made here, this Sith wanted to create life from midichlorians.”  
  
Obi-Wan turned to him, bewildered. “You can’t be serious.”  
  
“I’m not joking, I think he succeeded. Or so said his notes.” Sapak, for the first time in all this mess, looked lost and, Obi-Wan thought, scared.  
  
“What happened to him?” This was troublesome. If this Plagueis Sapak mentioned had managed to create life, that could mean there could be more Sith around, perhaps a new army waiting to start a war.  
  
“I don’t know.”  
  
\---  
  
They found other places in Exegol. A gallery full of broken statues, reminiscent of the ones Obi-Wan had come across Asog. The names were completely erased by that point, no matter how hard Obi-Wan tried to find a way to identify the Sith.  
  
Sapak didn’t seem to care much about those, crossing the promenade with long strides, finding himself in a giant throne room. The moment he saw the throne, the Force took hold of him and with a pained gasp, he fell to his knees.  
  
Images came to him, of a war filled with droids and blast noises. An army of identical men. And then a giant moon-like superweapon, a princess all in white, her anger and her grief strong in the Force. He saw the planet Alderaan blow up and felt the Force presences of the people living there suddenly go quiet. It was maddening. He saw the Jedi of his dreams, a green lightsaber in his hand. He saw a desperate son dragging the almost dead body of his father in the middle of chaos and panic. And then he saw fire and felt as if he was burning alive.  
  
He trashed on the floor until a hand pressed him down against it and he heard Obi-Wan’s voice like a flow of fresh air calling his name. But it wasn’t his name, just his Sith title.  
  
Taking deep breaths the best he could, he reached for the back of his helmet. “Take it off.” He growled, clawing at it. Obi-Wan’s fingers joined his and, soon, he felt the pressure around his head disappear.  
  


\---

Obi-Wan had rushed into the throne room when he had heard Sapak’s pained gasp. He found the man on the floor, screaming in the darkness as if he were being attacked. He did his best to pull him off whatever was causing that reaction.  
  
It took several tries before Sapak finally calmed down. And then he was fighting to take his own helmet off. As soon as the helmet fell open, golden curls tumbled out, like a halo around Sapak’s face, hiding it from Obi-Wan.  
  
Sapak relaxed further onto the floor, until his breath finally calmed down enough and he raised his head to stare at Obi-Wan. He had to swallow a surprised noise. Sapak was beautiful, his jaw strong and his lips full. His cheekbones were as if carved by the Force itself and, without the helmet, his lashes threw shadows onto them, framing his golden eyes.  
  
On his right eye was the small scar Obi-Wan had given him. It only helped to enhance Sapak’s beauty. The forgotten helmet fell from Obi-Wan’s hand onto the floor.  
  
“Thank you.” Panted out the Sith, his voice, the soft lilts free from the vocoder, still rough from his earlier screaming. “I didn’t want to worry you.” 

  
“What happened?” Asked Obi-Wan, helping Sapak stand up. “Did something attack you?”  
  
The Sith shook his head. “I had a vision. It hit hard. It’s alright, it happens sometimes.” Obi-Wan remained unconvinced, and insisted they left as soon as they could. Sapak complained little, only asking to look around, to see if he could find anything useful. His search would soon prove to be useless, Exegol seemed to only have empty rooms, an old world forgotten long ago. 

Their trip back to the platform was short and uneventful. It began to rise back to the planet’s surface as soon as Sapak stepped on it. The _Twilight_ was waiting for them, untouched by the lighting hitting the ground.  
  
This time, there was no need to drop from hyperspace to check where they were going. Sapak simply put Coruscant’s coordinates and relaxed into his chair. He had not put the helmet back on and Obi-Wan found it difficult to look away from his pouty lips.  
  
“I give up.” Said Sapak after some minutes. “Exegol was my last hope to find Vader and I only got more confusing visions. I’m tired of this.”  
  
Obi-Wan hummed, his hand on his chin, rubbing at it slowly. “You mentioned he died a Jedi. Perhaps you are looking for answers in the wrong places.”  
  
“I looked everywhere, I’ve even checked your Jedi registers while looking for your comm frequency. There is nothing that points to Vader in your precious Jedi temple.” He barked.  
  
“The Jedi temple in Coruscant is not the only temple we have, just as Moraband’s or Jaguada’s are not the only Sith ones.” He shot back. “Maybe I could take you to one of those, see if you can find what you’re looking for.”  
  
Sapak snorted. “I don’t think your other friends would like a Sith in their halls.”  
  
Obi-Wan sighed. “I think you’re not giving yourself or the Jedi enough credit. The fact that you’re so desperate to find this Sith that turned back to the light… Have you considered why you want that so badly?”  
  
“I want to be able to sleep at least four hours again.”  
  
“Or perhaps,” said Obi-Wan. “You want to leave the dark, because you’re cold and lonely in it.” Sapak looked away and Obi-Wan decided to take action. One of his hands found Sapak’s cheek, the skin soft under his touch. The Sith startled but didn’t pull away. “You haven’t attacked me, even when you had plenty of opportunities to do so.” He kept going, his thumb rubbing circles on Sapak’s cheek, the Sith leaning more into his touch. “And I’ve heard you touching yourself just a couple of nights ago.” A lovely blush took over Sapak’s face. “You don’t have to be alone anymore, darling, don’t you want me to take care of you?”  
  
It worked like magic. With a swift movement, Obi-Wan found his lap full of Sapak, who grabbed his face and rubbed his cheeks together, mewling at the feeling of Obi-Wan’s beard against his face. He squirmed, his hips thrusting teasingly against Obi-Wan’s, both groaning when their hard cocks finally pressed together.  
  
“I’ve been dreaming of this since Mustafar.” Confessed Sapak in a low voice, kissing Obi-Wan’s jaw and neck, biting into the skin possessively.  
  
“Have you now, pretty thing?” One of Obi-Wan’s hands tangled into Sapak’s curls, tugging at them and making Sapak moan. It made Obi-Wan’s cock jump in his trousers. “Were you thinking of me when you touched yourself the other night?”  
  
“Yes, yes. I was, please…” Sapak flushed prettily, his hand fumbling with their pants, freeing their cocks and wrapping it around their lengths. Obi-Wan groaned, pushing his hips up into Sapak’s touch. “Shit, you’re so big…”  
  
Obi-Wan buried his head in the Sith’s neck, kissing and marking the skin there, enjoying the mewls and keens it pulled from Sapak’s lips. “You’re doing so good, darling…” His free hand slid into Sapak’s pants, grabbing one of his asscheeks and squizing.  
  
“Ah! Obi-Wan...”  
  
It was the first time his name had left the Sith’s mouth since he had told him it. It drove Obi-Wan wild, the tip of his fingers teasing Sapak’s hole. “I want to fill you up with my come.” He murmured into his ear, just before sucking his earlobe into his mouth.  
  
Sapak moaned and came, dirtying his hand and their cocks with thick come. He slumped against Obi-Wan, panting wildly. Obi-Wan let go of his ass and started rubbing his back, ignoring his still hard cock until he felt Sapak stop trembling. 

The Sith pulled back and dropped onto his knees, pulling his tongue out and teasingly licking at the tip of Obi-Wan’s cock. Obi-Wan couldn’t help but groan. 

\---

They spent the rest of the journey fucking. Obi-Wan took Sapak in the fresher, his chest against the Sith’s back while the water from the shower fell onto them. And then he fucked him again on the small bunk that acted as a bed, one of Sapak’s legs thrown over his own hip, pushing slowly and deep into his warm hole until Sapak was begging for him to go faster. He had Sapak ride him in the cockpit and barely controlled himself before fucking him against the control panel as well.  
  
By the time Sapak docked at Coruscant, his neck was a mess of red bitemarks and purple bruises, proof of Obi-Wan’s eagerness.  
  
“Are you sure you don’t want to come with me back to the temple? My offer still stands.” He said. Sapak shook his head and threw him a small smile, shy and beautiful. Obi-Wan had to stop himself from pulling Sapak into him to kiss him senselessly.   
  
“I’m not a Jedi, Obi-Wan.” He said. And hesitated. “I don’t know if I’m a good Sith either.”  
  
“I don’t think that’s a bad thing, necessarily.”  
  
Sapak scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Of course you don’t, you’re such a Jedi.” He sounded fond and Obi-Wan knew he was hopelessly endeared to this Sith. “I’ll see you again.” He added, before turning back to board the _Twilight._  
  
“May the Force be with you.” Obi-Wan told him. Sapak only smiled again.  
  
\---

He didn’t tell the council about his adventure with Sapak, he only mentioned learning about Darth Plagueis and his apparently successful attempts to create life.  
  
The Council, predictably, didn’t like that at all. Master Mundi declared it was time to inform the Senate about their research. Depa supported him and Obi-Wan was eventually dismissed.  
  
He found Finic in the Room of a Thousand Fountains and allowed the boy to tackle him into the ground after telling him his mission was over at last. They went to Dex’s to celebrate, and Obi-Wan tried hard to ignore how the trip to the lower levels reminded him of the night he had spent with Sapak in the _Drunken Lothwolf_ .  
  
He spent the first week back at the temple, reaffirming his training bond with Finic and missing Sapak’s warm skin and soft mewls. No matter how much he meditated, he still found himself wondering where he was or what was he doing.  
  


His way of avoiding feeling down was to bury his nose into the biographies of the fallen Jedi during the Sith wars, trying to see if he could find Sapak’s missing Sith lord. And when he came up empty handed, he commed Dooku to inform him he was visiting.  
  


\---  
  
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this.” He muttered to himself the moment he landed on Serenno. The Force felt strange around him, as if something were about to happen.  
  
Just in case, he commed Quinlan and Luminara, leaving a short message on each of their comms telling them where he was. He did the same with Mace and hesitated before deciding to send a similar message to the anonymous sender from where Sapak had contacted him on previous occasions.  
  
And then he walked into the palace.  
  
\---  
  
The first thing that called his attention was the silence around the place. Serenno’s castle was known for the sounds of servants moving around and tourists visiting the open areas of the palace. Dooku’s balcony, where they had drunk tea during Obi-Wan’s visits was empty, which only reinforced his bad feeling.  
  
And then, with barely any warning in the Force, he felt someone dropping from above him. He turned fast, switching his lightsaber on just in time to block a red blade going for his head.  
  
He almost lost his grip when he saw who was behind the blade.  
  
Count Dooku, with glowing golden eyes, his face turned into a gesture of anger. Behind him, coming from the hall, an ugly cackle filled the place. A man in a dark hood came from the shadows, his Force presence murky like back at Moraband.  
  
A Sith Lord. 

“What in the Sith hells is going on, Dooku?” He snarled, parrying a blow against him. “Who is this?” 

  
“I’m Darth Sidious.” Said the man, and Obi-Wan felt like a bucket of cold water had been emptied over his head. “And I’ve heard there is another like me running around freely.”  
  
He was talking about Sapak. Obi-Wan felt his worry spike.  
  
And then something foreing in his mind, like a faint question. He ignored it in favour of protecting himself from another attack from Dooku. The man, despite leaving the order years before, seemed to have kept his training intact. His Makashi was giving Obi-Wan serious trouble and the questioning feeling at the back of his mind had turned into alarm.  
  
“It’s not personal, Kenobi.” The Sith added, as an afterthought. “We’re not killing you today, we just want Darth Sapak to get here so we may get rid of him.”  
  


“What makes you think he will come for me?” He snarled at the man, barely managing to avoid Dooku’s attacks.  
  
Sidious cackled again, shaking his head. “Ah, but you see, Master Jedi, Tyrannus here has told me of your little friendship with this Sith.” He turned serious then. “If he doesn’t show up, I guess you’ll get to experience the Force in a new way.” 

And then Obi-Wan had to focus back on his fight. 

\---

He quickly escaped the balcony by throwing himself off of it. Dooku pursued him, while Sidious ugly laugh followed them along the castle’s hallways. 

Occasionally, Dooku would catch up to Obi-Wan and they would exchange some blows, before Obi-Wan managed to throw Dooku off his rhythm and slip away. By the time he reached the palace’s doors, he had received several cuts and he was hobbling, pushing himself to his limits in order to warn the Jedi.  
  
He heard Dooku’s lightsaber behind him, almost tripping with his own feet and closed his eyes. He calmed his breath and accepted the fact that he was going to die at that moment.  
  
But then, just as the blow was about to hit, an air current blew next to him and he heard the sound of a lightsaber clashing against another. He turned around and found, to his surprise, that Sapak had blocked Dooku and was pushing him back with his own parries. 

Obi-Wan watched him, still trying to understand how he had got there so fast. Or maybe he hadn’t, and Obi-Wan had been fighting Dooku for longer than he had thought. 

Sapak managed to subdue Dooku enough that Obi-Wan could reach his ship and send a signal to the Jedi temple asking for help. He added the words Sith Lord and marked it as high priority. And before he could rejoin the fight, his leg finally gave out and he collapsed on the boarding ramp. 

From there, he saw Sapak still fighting, with Dooku not letting him off the hook easily. He was doing great, despite starting to show signs of fatigue. 

And then he heard a scream and saw how Dooku pushed the younger Sith against a wall, one of his arms missing. He felt a surge of protective rage and stood up, grabbing his lightsaber again and intercepting Dooku before he could stab Sapak.  
  
“You’re pathetic, Kenobi, protecting this joke of a Sith. And you’ll die with him as well.” 

“I’ll consider it an honour, dying with a friend.” He snarked back, breaking apart, not moving from his protective spot. Behind him, Sapak groaned in pain and tried to stand up but failed.  
  
“Then I’ll grant you your wish.” Said Sidious from above. And then Obi-Wan felt the shock of lightning hit his body. Dooku used the moment and stabbed him in the stomach.  
  
Obi-Wan fell on the ground, a distant scream of anguish filling the room, but his vision was turning black. He wished he could have said goodbye to Finic before dying.  
  
\---

Sapak saw Obi-Wan fall and his sight turned red. It was an anger he hadn’t felt for years now, since the death of his master. He would avenge Obi-Wan’s death as he had done so with her as well.  
  
But then he remembered Obi-Wan’s smirk when he teased him, or the way he rubbed his beard when he was thinking about something. He thought of his soft caresses and his offer to give him a place to be among the Jedi, despite how Sapak had been tainted by the darkness for years now.  
  
So he let his anger wash over him. And then, he let go.  
  
He called his lightsaber with his remaining hand and jumped towards the old man who had been fighting Obi-Wan. He would later not remember how he did it, just that he managed to counter him long enough for him to find an opening and cut his head in a clean swipe of his saber.  
  
He turned around and found the other old man, a mysterious Force user who reeked of the darkside in a way that Sapak had only seen in the Sith temples and caves. This man was a Sith Lord, and from his age, old enough to probably have a statue in one of the newer temples.  
  
They fought as well, the man played dirty, using lightning without a care. He was good with a saber too, and Sapak was hurt and in pain, and quickly growing tired. But he could feel Obi-Wan’s rapidly diminishing light and that only motivated him to keep fighting.  
  
He had to kill this man, he had to survive for long enough to help Obi-Wan. He knew he wouldn’t make it out alive from this planet but he wouldn’t care if he managed to guarantee that Obi-Wan would get to live another day.  
  
He fell into a trance, the visions that had plagued him for months overlapping with the man in front of him. He saw Darth Vader grabbing his master despite the lightning and throwing him down a unending fall.  
  
And Sapak realised what he had to do. He dropped his saber and allowed himself to be hit by the lightning. It hurt and he couldn’t help but scream. But despite the pain, he slowly walked forwards, until he was close enough to the old man to wrap a hand around his neck. The man, who had been, up until that point, laughing maniacally, choked on his own spit. He didn’t stop his lightning even as Sapak added more and more pressure to his hand.  
  
A snap was heard in the Force and the old man collapsed, choked to death by Sapak. The remaining Sith turned around immediately, electricity still dancing over his body. He took two steps towards Obi-Wan and dropped on his knees.  
  
It didn’t stop him, dragging himself across the floor until he could turn Obi-Wan around and pressed his head against his chest. His heart was still beating, even if it was weak.  
  
He sighed with relief, he could still save Obi-Wan.  
  
Tears gathered in his eyes and he leaned forward, leaving a soft kiss on Obi-Wan’s lips. And then he pressed his hands on the hole on his stomach and focused on his own Force presence. 

\---

He woke up surrounded by light. Pain in his right arm made him groan and suddenly there was a shadow over him. He squinted at it and the shadow turned into a silhouette which later turned into Obi-Wan’s face. 

“Hello there.” Said the Jedi, and Sapak blinked at him. “Nice of you to join me here today.”  
  
Sapak scrunched his eyes closed again and groaned. “Where am I?”  
  
“You’re in the Halls of Healings, in the Jedi Temple of Coruscant.” Obi-Wan explained, pressing a hand on his forehead and sliding it down his face until it was cupping his cheek. Sapak turned his face against Obi-Wan’s hand, the touch comforting him.  
  
“How?” He asked. He was supposed to be dead, he had been trying his best to give Obi-Wan his life energy. 

“You, somehow, managed to destroy the Sith and keep both of us alive for long enough. The Jedi arrived in Serenno and brought us here, where they stabilized us.” His eyes shone with adoration and Sapak flushed.  
  
“Why are you looking at me like that, old man?” Obi-Wan huffed before chuckling.  
  
“You’re much more beautiful shining bright in the light than when you were hiding in the dark.” He said. “Your eyes are the most wonderful shade of blue I’ve ever seen.”  
  
“What?” He barely croaked out. Obi-Wan frowned at him then.  
  
“You don’t realise? You are no longer part of the Sith. Whatever you did after I was stabbed, it seems the Force rewarded you with the rest of your life soaked in the lightside.” The skin around Obi-Wan’s eyes crinkled when he smiled and Sapak found it hard to breath while he stared at it. “You’re free, Sapak.”  
  
“Anakin.”  
  
Obi-Wan frowned, confusion filling his face. “I’m sorry?”  
  
“My real name is Anakin Skywalker.” He insisted. And then Obi-Wan leaned forward and kissed him in the mouth, effectively stealing his breath away and making the machine keeping track of Sapak’s heartbeat go wild, forcing another Jedi to come and check what was happening. The Healer scolded Obi-Wan, who bowed his head but winked at Sapak when the Healer turned to the machine to quiet it down. 

\---

Anakin fitted into the Temple as well as Obi-Wan knew he would. He loved spending time in the Room of a Thousand Fountains, dipping his bare feet into the water.  
  
The Council had welcomed him with wary eyes, and he still had to spend several hours of the day meditating with Yoda and being taught the Code and Jedi philosophy by Mace and Plo Koon.  
  
But he also spent all the time he could with Obi-Wan, sometimes watching him train Finic, sometimes just sitting quietly next to Obi-Wan in the Jedi master’s rooms. Sometimes spending the nights rolling around Obi-Wan’s bed, moaning prettily and hugging him close.  
  
He still got visions from time to time, waking up in a cold sweat and breathing hard. Obi-Wan would hug him close and brew him tea during those times, talking about old Jedi legends until Anakin’s eyes grew heavy with sleep.  
  
It wouldn’t be easy, the way Anakin had been raised sometimes clashing with the Jedi teachings. But as long as Obi-Wan was next to him, he would give it a hundred tries.  
  
He wasn’t alone anymore. 

**Author's Note:**

> That's all, friends!  
> Anakin's Sith name in this AU is a variation of the word "Sapaki" which means "Lonely" in Quechua, the language Huttese was inspired by! 
> 
> If anyone is interested in talking about this AU or any of my other works, you can find me on my tumblr. I post drawings there too! You can find it [here!](https://tomicaleto.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Please excuse any typos you may find, this is almost 16k after all. And happy new year again!


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